Another special day which reflects the SCAW
team’s commitment to the kids of India.
We started off a bit on the wrong foot with
an underestimation of the travel time and lots of traffic going south. So what’s new for Kolkata! Lots of traffic, humanity everywhere, sights
to think about in terms of kids in India.
A warm welcome in Mograhat at the country
place of the Cedar Point Rotary Club’s president. Well laid out for a distribution with
Rotarians and their spouses from the local club and Dum Dum ready to go.
What stood out to the team was our
commitment to the kids. First, part way
through the distribution, there was a delay due to the provided lunches needing
to be restocked. Sidebar – it’s not
every distribution where the OVP commits to providing a meal for each bedkit
recipient and a parent/guardian. Kolkata
does, which means that over all distributions, 13,000 meals are provided –
commitment to kids. The break was filled
by a delightful meal for us provided by the Rotarians and a bit of
entertainment by us singing Oh Canada, playing with the children, and getting
to know one another.
Second, we were informed mid-afternoon that
60 children were delayed and would we mind waiting for over an hour to deliver
bedkits to these kids. The response from
the team was a resounding “yes” within about 2 seconds – commitment to kids.
Last, 20 of the bedkit recipients were from
an orphanage, and we were invited to come to the orphanage after our long day
of delivering 500 bedkits. Again, we all
said “yes” under the impression the orphanage was on the
way back to Kolkata – commitment to kids.
It turned out that the best laid plans did not work out, but none the
less – commitment to kids.
Signing off for now, Team Kolkata …
